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Tennessee football: 25 percent capacity expected at Neyland

By Caleb Calhoun

NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 24: Former head coach Phillip Fulmer of the Tennessee Volunteers walks the sideline prior to a 38-13 Vanderbilt victory over the University of Tennessee at Vanderbilt Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 24: Former head coach Phillip Fulmer of the Tennessee Volunteers walks the sideline prior to a 38-13 Vanderbilt victory over the University of Tennessee at Vanderbilt Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /
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Phillip Fulmer announced the coronavirus limitations for the Tennessee football Volunteers’ home stadium.

More details on the limitations for Tennessee football home games due to coronavirus were made available Tuesday evening. Neyland Stadium will be mostly empty this season, even if everything goes as planned right now.

Phillip Fulmer, Rocky Top’s athletic director, said in a press conference with State Gov. Bill Lee and UT Chancellor Donde Plowman that Neyland Stadium is expected to be limited to fans at 25 percent capacity this fall. He also said the athletic department could lose $30-40 million in projected revenue due to the virus.

This news comes after recent reports of Tennessee football planning to limit capacity and banning individual tailgating, which was unclear on its own to a certain degree. Ryan Callahan of GoVols247 reported on that last week.

It also comes on the heels of the SEC announcing health and safety guidelines for the season. While it was up to the institutions to determine the number of attendees, numerous other precautions were taken, including requiring face coverings and certain barriers for concessions.

With a stadium size of 102,455, somewhere between 25,000 and 26,000 people could attend home games in Knoxville if expectations stand. In addition to such limitations, Fulmer noted amidst the uncertainty surrounding tailgating that the Vol Walk could be “unsafe. He added that mobile ticketing could help slow the spread of the virus.

All of this news came a day after the Vols began fall camp and the dates for their 2020 10-game SEC-only schedule were revealed. Their first home game is scheduled for Oct. 3 at the Missouri Tigers, and they will play five on the year.

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Cutting the number of fans at a Tennessee football game by 75 percent could certainly prove challenging, but the Vols are at least putting together a plan to deal with the situation. Whether or not it works out long-term remains to be seen. Seeing Neyland so empty on television will certainly be unique, though.

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